Most beautiful temple in India

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Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple

Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located in the holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is
dedicated to Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareswarar or Beautiful Lord) and his consort, Goddess Parvati (in the form of
Meenakshi). Madurai's Meenakshi-Sundareswarar temple was originally built by the Pandya King Kulasekara. This is the place where Lord Nataraja performed the dance raising his right leg.

The complex houses 12 magnificent Gopurams or towers including two golden Gopurams for the main deities, that are elaborately sculptured and painted. The tallest temple tower is 51.9 metre high.

Thousand Pillar hall of Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple was built with the oldest Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunleveli as a
model. The Aayiram Kaal Mandapam or Thousand Pillar Hall contains 985 (instead of 1000) carved pillars. The Thousand Pillared Hall was built by Ariyanatha Mudaliar in 1569. He was the Prime Minister and General of Viswanatha Nayak of the first Nayaka of Madurai (1559-1600 AD).

Each pillar is carved and is a monument of the Dravidian sculpture. There is a Temple Art Museum in the hall where icons, photographs, drawings, and other exhibits of the 1200 years old history are displayed. Just outside this mandapam, towards the west, are the Musical Pillars. Each pillar, when struck, produces a different musical note. The kalyana mandapa, to the south of the pillared hall, is where the marriage of Shiva and Parvati is celebrated every year during the Chithirai Festival in mid-April.

Festivals

The most important festival associated with the temple is the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam (The divine marriage of Meenkashi) that is celebrated in April every year. During that one month period, in which most Tamil Nadu temples celebrate their annual festivals, there are a number of events including the The Thiruvizhah (Chariot festival) and Theppa Thiruvizhah (Float festival) are celebrated. Apart from this, major Hindu festivals like Navrathri, Shivrathri are celebrated in a grand manner. Like most Shakti temples in Tamil Nadu, the Fridays during the Tamil months of Aadi (July 15 - Aug 17) and Thai (Jan 15 to Feb 15) are popularly celebrated with thousands of devotees thronging to the temple. In every Tamil month some festive occasions will happen in the temple like Aavani Urchavam, Maarghazi Urchavam, Navaraathri, etc.




How to Reach

Madurai Airport is 9 km from the city and the Railway station.

From Arapalayam bus stand, buses to places of western Tamil Nadu like Theni, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem operate and Periyar bus stand is where only city buses and private buses to major cities operate. It has good road connections to all major cities. National highways passing through Madurai are

NH 7 : Bangalore – Salem – Dindigul – Madurai – Tirunelveli – Kanyakumari

NH 45B : Trichy – Madurai – Thoothukudi

NH 49 : Madurai – Rameswaram

NH 49 Extn : Madurai – Theni – Bodi – Kochi.

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Rock fort or Ucchi Pillayar koil, is a combination of two famous 7th century Hindu temples, located atop of a small rock in Trichy, India. Geologically the 83 m high rock is said to be one of the oldest in the world, dating over 3 billion years ago, and mythologically this rock is the place where Lord Ganesh ran from King Vibishana, after establishing the Ranganathaswamy deity in Srirangam.

The smooth rock was first cut by the Pallavas but it was the Nayaks of Madurai who completed both the temples under the Vijayanagara empire. The temple complex is composed of two parts: a Shiva temple (Thayumanaswamy) carved in the middle of the rock and a Pillayar (Ganesh) temple at the top portion of the rock. The Shiva temple is the bigger one, housing a massive stone statue of Shiva in the form of Linga along with a separate sanctum for goddess Parvati. The Ganesh temple is much smaller with an access through steep steps carved on the rock and provides a stunning view of Trichy, Srirangam and the rivers Kaveri and Kollidam.

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Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam

The temple is near Trichy in Tamil Nadu, India is dedicated to Lord Ranganatha, a reclining form of Lord Vishnu. It is the first and foremost among the 108 Divya Desams, the holy abodes of Lord Vishnu. The temple is built on an island in the middle of the River Cauvery. The temple chariot festival is famous during the 21 day Vaikunta Ekadasi when the Vaishnavite text, Tiruvaimozhi is recited before Lord Vishnu. ThiruKalyana festival during Tamil month of Panguni is celebrated with pomp and glory.

The temple occupies an area of 156 acres with a perimeter of 1,116 m making it the largest temple in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world. In fact, Srirangam temple can be easily termed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world (Angkor Wat being the largest non-functioning temple). The temple is enclosed by 7 concentric walls with a total length of over six miles. These walls are enclosed by 21 Gopurams (Towers), the largest of which was completed in 1987 and measures 73 m in height. Among the marvels of the temple is a "hall of 1000 pillars" (actually 953). Non-Hindus can only go up to the sixth wall but not inside the gold topped sanctum sanctorium.

Though the term Kovil is generically used in Tamil to signify any temple, for many Vaishnavas, the term Kovil exclusively refers to this temple, indicating its extreme importance for them. Apart from the main shrine of Ranganathar, the complex also houses shrines of dozens of forms of Lord Vishnu including Sudarshana Chakra, Narasimha, Rama,Hayagreeva, Gopala Krishna, separate shrines for Ranganayaki and dozens of other shrines for the major saints in the Vaishnava tradition, including Ramanuja. On most days, the devotees are treated to Chakra pongal (a type of sweet made with jaggery, pulses and rice), Puliyodarai and thayir sadam (rice with yogurt/curd) prasadam (offering).



How to Reach

Trichy has an international airport about 8 km from the city. Trichy Railway Junction has routes to Madurai, Rameswaram, Erode, Tanjore and Chennai. Currently there are 4 platforms in operation. There is frequent bus services to Srirangam from Trichy (6 km).

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Badrakaliamman temple at Mecheri near Salem (Mettur Dam)
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Balasubramaniaswamy Hill temple at Vennaimalai near Karur (Tiruchirappalli)
Balasubramanyaswamy Temple at Andarkuppam near Ponneri (Chennai)
Balasubramanyaswamy Temple at Chennai (Teynampet)
Balasubramanyaswamy Temple at Chinnambedu near Ponneri (Chennai)
Balasubramanyaswamy Temple at Uthiramerur near Chennai
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Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple at Tiruneermalai near Chennai
Bhaktavatsalaperumal Temple at Tiruninravur near Arakkonam
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Bhimeswarar Temple at Vishar near Kanchipuram
Bhoomeeswaraswamy temple at Marakkanam near Dindivanam
Bhoomeeswaraswamy temple at Omandur near Dindivanam
Bhoominathaswamy Temple at Veeravanallur near Ambasamudram (Tirunelveli)
Bhoothalingaswamy Temple at Bhoothapandi near Nagercoil(Kanyakumari)
Bhootapureeswarar Temple at Sriperumpudur (Tiruvallur) near Chennai
Bhoovarahaswamy temple at Srimushnam near Vriddachalam (South Arcot)
Bhrammapureeswarar Temple at Ambar (Peralam) near Tiruvarur
Bhrammapureeswarar Temple at Perunagar near Kanchipuram
Bhrammapureeswarar Temple at Sirkali near Chidambaram
Bhrammapureeswarar Temple at Tiruchattamangai near Tiruvarur
Bhrammapureeswarar Temple at Tirukkadavur Mayanam near Mayiladuturai
Bhrammapureeswarar Temple at Tirukkolili (Tirunellikka) near Tiruvarur (Vidanga Stalam)
Bhrammapureeswarar temple at Bhrammadesam near Villuppuram
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Brahmapureeswarar temple at Thiruppathur near Tiruchirappalli (Siruganur)
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Chakravaheswarar Temple at Tiruchakrapalli (Aiyanpettai) near Kumbakonam
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Chidambareswarar temple at Kazhumaram near Tirukkovilur (Tiruvannamalai)
Chidambareswaraswamy Temple at Kuvathur near Madurantakam
Chintamani Nathar Temple at Vasudevanallur near Sankarankoil (Tirunelveli)
Chitaral Bhagavathi Amman Temple at Arumana near Kuzhitturai (Kanyakumari)
Chokkalingaperumal Temple at Dharmapuram near Mayiladuturai
Chokkanathar - Meenakshi Temple at Mannargudi near Thanjavur
Choleeswaraswami Temple at Koluman near Udumalpet (Coimbatore)
Choleeswaraswamy Temple at Arcot Kuppam near Tiruttani
Choleeswaraswamy Temple at Kavanthandalam near Wallajabad
Choleeswaraswamy Temple at Pillayarpalayam near Kanchipuram

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Damodara Perumal Temple at Damal near Kanchipuram
Darbharanyeswarar Temple at Tirunallar (Pondicherry) near Mayiladuturai (Navagrahastalam, Vidangastalam)
Dasavathara temple at Srirangam
Deepaprakasa Perumal Temple at Kanchipuram
Deivanayaka Perumal Temple at Tirudevanar Togai - Keezhchaalai (Sirkali) near Chidambaram
Deivanayakaswamy Temple at Elimiankottur (Kadambattur) near Tiruvallur
Desanadheeswarar Temple at Hogenakkal near Dharmapuri
Devadirajan Temple at Terezhundur near Mayiladuturai
Devanathaswamy temple at Tiruvayindapuram near Cuddalore
Devapureeswarar Temple at Devur (Sembiyan Mahadevi) near Nagappattinam
Dhanameswarar Temple at Thandalam near Ponneri (Chennai)
Dhandapani Eswaraswamy Temple at Chennai (Velacheri)
Dhandayuthapani Temple at Palani near Madurai (Aru Padai Veedu)
Dhandayuthapaniswamy temple at Kodaiyur near Karur (Tiruchirappalli)
Dharmalingeswaraswamy Temple at Athuvambadi near Polur (Tiruvannamalai)
Dharukavaneswarar temple at Thirupparaithurai near Tiruchirappalli
Dhatteeswarar Temple at Tirumanam (Pattabiram) near Tiruvallur
Dhenupureeswarar Temple at Madambakkam near Tambaram